Cotton-boll gatherer.



I a. P. AQPPLEBY.

COTTON BOLL GATHEBBR APPLIOATIOH TILED HOV. 30,11907.

908,637. Patented m 5, 1909. A g3 GSEISIZTB-BHEET 1.

J. ABELEBY. COTTON BOLL GATEEBEB. APPLIOATIOK FILED HOT-30, 1907.

Patented Jan. 5,1909.

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s R e 3* Jy w J. F. APPLEBY. COTTON BQLL GATEEBEB. Aprmouron rum) nav so, 1907.

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HHIHHHH Patented Jan. 5, 1909 J. F. APPLEBY. comm 130m. GATHEREB. APPLIOATIOH FILED NOV. 30, 1907.

Patented Jan; 5, 1909.

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J, P. APPLEBY.

COTTON BOLL GATHEEER. APPLICATION FILED 110 1.30, 1907.

908,637. Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

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J. F. AFPLEBY. UOTTOK BULL GATHEBEB. APPLIOATIOHEILED nomso, 1907. I

Patented Ja11.5, 1909.

JOHN F. 'APPLEBY, or LOREN'A, OKLAHOMA.

sorrow-non. GATERER.

' Specification of Letters Patent.-

Patented mm. a, 1909.

Application filed November 30, 1907. Serial No. #141,670.

To all whom it may concemt,

Be it known that I, JOHN F. APPLEBY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Lorena, in the county of Beaver and State of Oklahoma, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Cotton- Boll Gatherers, of which the following is a full,

1 clear, concise, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to cotton boll gatherers, and has for its object the provision of a machine which is well adapted to gather cotton bolls from cotton plants.

The machine of my invention is designed to be used after a cotton harvesting machine has passed over a cotton field, whereby the empty bolls may be gathered for commercial purposes.

The material of the cotton bolls is particularly well adapted.- for usein the formation of fibrous pulp from which paper and other commodities may be manufactured.

The machine of my invention is well adaptedto removing the cotton bolls from the cotton plants wlthout removing in material quantity the leaves or twigs of the plants.

vIn-practicing my invention I employ as a boll "gathering element, .a rotating. body which isfeathered longitudinally of its axis of rotation, there bein another body be tween which and the said rotating body the cotton plants may be confined, as the ma .includes two traction wheels 1, 1,'whichchine is traveling throu h" the field. This other body is desirably a tidy which is similar in construction to the feathered rotating body, so that each feathered rotating body acts as a resisting agency in cooperation with-the. other rotating body to effect the removal of the bolls'from the plants. The rotating bodies are desirably in 'the form "for cylinders. The cylinders are inclined downwardly toward the front of the machine, so that the front portions of the cylinders are close to the ground-and the upper portions of the cylinders are 'further re moved from the ground, whereby bolls may,

be gathered from cotton plants varying'in height. and throughout the plants. The feathers upon each cylinder desirably interleave or mtermcshwith the feathers upon the-companion cylinder, so that all bolls are forced to come into contact with boll gathering feathers, wherebythe removal of all thebolls frorgt the field over which the machine is passing is assured. A conveying device is'desirably provided upon each side of a boll gathering roller to receive the removed bolls and to convey the same to a re-.

ceiving basket that is carried upon the machine. The mechanism of the boll gatherer is desirably driven by the traction wheels which carry the same. The interrelation between the traction wheels, the boll gathering rollers and the conveying devices will be fully'explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred embodiment of my invention, and other characteristics of my invention will also be pointed out in connect-ion with the said drawings. 4

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a plan view of the machine of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view in elevation on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. '3 is a sectionalview in elevation on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional View in elevation of a part of the mechanism on line 4 4. of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig.

6 is a view taken in the direction of the ar rows 6 of Fig. 3, certain parts of the mechanism to the rear of the parts shown in Fig. 6 being omitted for the sake of clearness. Fig. 7 is a View on line 7 7 of Fig. 4:. Fig. 8 is a view on line 8 8 of Fig. 2. p

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the different figures.

The mechanism of my invention desirably preferably are the only traction wheels in the organization. .These .tractionwheels are free to rotate upon the main shaft 2 of the machine .lll'SO far as such'rotation will be permitted by means of' the well-known clutching devices 3 which are provuled, as

is well understood, for the purpose of permitting differential motion between the tractionwheels, as 1n rounding corners or permitting the wheels'freely to rotate upon the shaft in backing, the clutching devices 3 (Fig. 5) efiectin a fixed relation between the wheels and t e shaft when the machine is being pulled forwardly in a straight line.

It; is unnecessary to furnish a detail descriptionor illustration of these clutching devices, as their function, construction and ,purpose is well understood by those skilled in the art.

' I The main gear element which operates the mechanism 01' my invention is desirably in the form of a evel gear wheel 4 (Figs. 4, 5 and 7) which meshes with a bevel pinion 5, the bevel pinion 5 being desirably in fixed mechanical relation with a spur gear 6,

xwhich, in turn, is in mesh with a spur pinion 7 splined upon a shaft 8 fixed with respect to a boll gathering roller 9, Whose construction will be hereinafter more fully set forth. A spur gear 10 is also splined upon the shaft 8 and is in mesh with a spur gear 11 which is spiined upon a shaft 12 that carries the other boll gathering roller l3,whose construction is desirably similar to the construction of the boll gathering roller 9. The boll gathering rollers are thus caused to retate in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 8,- the upperportions of the peripheries of the rollers moving away from each other, while the lower portions of the peripheries of the rollers move toward each other. The cylinder of each roller is preferably formed of tubing, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 4, the lower end of each tube forming each cylinder being closed by a cap 1% which is constructed to constitute the journal end'of its roller, the vehicle being provided with a downwardly projecting support 15 that carries a bearing 16 for the lower end ofcach boll gathering roller. The upper end of each tube of each boll I gathering roller is closed by means of the associate spur gear-l0 or 11 which is provided with an annular threaded extension 17 having threaded engagement with an exterior threaded portion ofthe upper end of the tube.

A number of feathers 18 are distributed about each roller, these feathers, in the embodhnent of the invention shown, being separately formed from the cylinders of the rollers and bolted thereto. I prefer to employ four feathers which project from the roller cylinders in radial directions and which desirably occupy planes that are parallel with or include the axes of the rollers. The feathers 18 of one roller are in interleaving or intermeshing relation with the feathers of the other roller, whereby the feathers of one roller ar brought in opposition to the cylindrical portions of the other roller when said feathers occupy horizontal positions, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Where the rollers are close enough together, the feathers desirably project more than half way across the space intervening between the rollers, so that the plants are engaged and bent by thefeathers so as to insure the contact of all of the bolls in the plants with the feathers, whereby all of the bolls are bound to be removed. It will be observed that the cylindrical portion of each roller acts as a resisting surface for the feathers of the companion roller, whereby the cotton plants are interposed between the feathers of each roller and a resisting surface of companion roller, whereby as the rollers rotate upwardly at their adjacent peripheral, portions, the removal of the bolls is assured. It will be apparent from the construction of my invention that none of the cotton plants '10 is pinched as they might be if the device were brought into opposition, but that each feather acts without the immediate coiiperation of another feather in pulling the bolls from the plants, each feather in thus pulling 7.

bolls from the plants acting in direct cooperation with the cylindrical portion of the roller presented to it.

In order -to enable the machine of my invention to strip the bolls from cotton plants 30 of varying heights, and in order that the cotton plants may be presented at the proper angle to the stripping feathers of the boll gathering rollers, I incline the boll gathering rollers downwardly toward the front of 85 angle is usually a right angle with respect to said feathers. T his is the case, generally speaking, without regard to the height of the plant, and inasmuch as the lower portion of the boll athering rollers are in juxtaposition with the lower portions of the cot- 1 ton plants, it will be seen that as the ma chine is drawn over a row of cotton plants, that the feathers pass from the bottom to the top of each plant, thereby insuring the removal of all of the bolls from the plants. The removal of all of the bolls from the cob ton plants is further assured by having the feathers project more than half way across the narrowest space between the boll gather-- ing' rollers, or, in other words, having the feathers interleave or interinesh, for thereby the stalks or trunks of the cotton plants are bent first in 'one direction and th n in the other, as suggested by the dotted lines in the central portion of Fig. 8, so that not only are the bolls upon the sides of the plants presented to the rollers bound to be removed, but the balls that are at the front and rear of the plants are also bound to he removed. I desirably cause thebolls which have been gathered to be discharged into a receptacle carried by the vehicle, such a. receptacle being indicated in the form of -a basket 19.

I interpose conveying mechanism for transferring the bolls from the ball gathering rollers to the receptacle 19, this conveying mechanism, in the embodiment'of the invention shown, residing in oppositely rotating conveying screws 20 which are disposed in suitable housings 21. "Mmese coir 22 located over the basket 19, the bolls findacaear,

gathered the bolls, they discharge the bolls toward the conveying screws, which are rotatingito' convey the bolls upwardly. The upper end of each housing for the conveying screws'terniinates-in a discharge spout ing their way through the housings and through the discharge spouts into the basket. .-.The same gearing which causes the rotation of the boll gathering rollers desirably also. effects the rotation of the conveying screws, to which end I preferably employ the mechanism shown most clearly in Figs. 1, 2,3 and 6, which mechanism includes-a chain ear wheel 28 uponeach bell gathering ro ler shaft, a chain gear wheel 2 upon each conveying screw shaft, and an endless chain 26 inclosing each pair of gear wheels 23 and 24. By this construction the conveying screw andboll gathering roller upon one si e of the machine are caused to rotate in the same direction, which is also the case with respect to the conveying screw and boll gathering roller upon the other side of the machine.

When itis desired to prevent the boil athering rollers and the conveying screws rom being operated while the machine is traveling, the spur pinion 7 may be drawnv out of mesh with the pinion 6, to which end said spur pinion is splined to its shaft 8 and is provided with an annular groove at its upper end, into which an adjustable fork 25 is inserted. A clamp bolt 26 passes through a slot in the adjusting fork. When this clamping bolt is fastened, the adjusting fork may be moved up or down, thereby throwing the spur pinion 7 out of or into mesh with the gear 6.

The machine is provided with two direct- 1 ing fenders Q7, 28 at its forward end, whereby the cotton plants are gathered laterally and are guided into the space between the boll gathering rollers. The machinemay be equipped with a draft tongue 30 so as to permit it to be drawn by a pair of horses, a seat 31'bcing conveniently disposed upon the vehicle for the driver.

I provide mechanism for adjusting the in clined position of the conveyors and boll gathering rollers, which mechanism is illustrated most clearly in Fig. 2, where I have 60 shown an a'djustinglever 32 having a grip iii-linked to a (log 34 adapted to interlock with the teeth of a locking quadrant 35. The lever 32 is in the form of a bell crank whose lower arm 36 is connected with a link 37 attached to a frame portion 38 which is fixed with respect to the housings for the conveying fer to employ rollers 39 in the various bear 7g ings. A housing 40, made in hinge sections that meetcat the upper central portion of the machine, is provided for the purpose of preventing the boll gathering feathers from casting the bolls beyond the conveyers.

In certain of the claims-I refer to the boll gathering rollers as being inclined, by which I mean that theyare inclined at an angle to the horizontal.

I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is obvious that many changes may he made in the embodiment of the invention shown without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the precise construction illustrated, but,

Having thus described my invention, I

Patent 1. A cotton boll gathering machine including two boll gathering rollers each claim as new and desire to secure by Letters extending at an angle to the horizontal pro- I .vided with projections in the form of feathers disposedlongitudinally of the rollers, said rollers being disposedto permit the cotton plants to pass therebetween, thereby to permit the projections to engage the bolls and remove the same from the plants, and

mechanism for causing the rollers to rotate,

in opposite directions with the upper portions of the rollers moving away from each other, said projections intermeshing or intel-leaving as the rollers rotate, the body portion of each roller being close to the nearest projections upon the other roller, whereby lace against which the feather that is in the act of removing bolls may press the cotton plants.

' 2. A cotton boll gathering machine includ ingtwo boll gathering rollers provided with the said body portion acts as a resisting surprojections in the form of feathers disposed longitudinallyof the rollers, said rollers being'disposed to permit the cotton plants to pass tlicrebetween, thereby to permit the projections to engage the bolls and remove the same from the plants, and mechanism for causing the rollers to rotate in opposite directions with the upper portions of therollat an angle to the horizontal provided.

with projections, roller heing dis-- posed to permit the cotton onts to pass therebetween,thereby to permit the projections to engage the tolls end r-move the some from the plants, and mechanism for causing the rollers to rotate in opposite directions with the upper portions of the rollers moving away from each other, said projections intern'ieshing or interleaving as the rollers rotate, the body portion of each roller being close to the nearest rnejeetions upon the other roller, whereby the said hotly portion acts as a resisting surface against which the projecting edge that in the act of remov ing bolls may press the cotton plants.

4-. A cotton boll gathering machine including two boll gathering rollers provided with projections, said rollers being disposed to permit the e'otton plants to pass therehetween, thereby topermit the projections to engage the bolls and remove the same from the plants and mechanism for causing the rollers to rotate in op osite directions with the upper portions 0 the rollers moving away from each other, said projections interineshing or interleaving as the rollers re tote, the body portion of each roller being close to the nearest projections upon the other roller, whereby the said body portion acts as a resisting surface against which the projecting edge that is in the act of removingbolls may press the cotton plants.

In witness whereof, It hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of November A. 1)., 

